Sunday, February 4, 2018

Something a bit different from me, a short-long-epic story about the small Indiana town of Red Bethel. I as inspired to write this after taking a really kick-ass picture of a fog shrouded church at sunset.

That story is free to read but if you enjoy it, please consider donating something to my Patreon.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

I just finished a quick build and paint job on a plastic blister from a pack of air fresheners that I procured from work. I'm trying to cull a good portion of the plastic bits that I've collected and part of that is to actually make some stuff with it!

Nothing complicated here, MDF base, various greeblies for details, ink-jet decals. I'm really happy with the way the solid black decals look but anything with color just gets washed out by the color beneath it. But it beats trying to hand paint them.

To get the sandy texture I first cover the MDF with wood glue and then sprinkle it with very fine sand. Once this is completely dry I cover the whole surface with regular thin super-glue. This not only bonds and seals it nicely but makes the texture less pronounced and more "natural".

Monday, December 25, 2017

It's that time of year again for the Secret Santa swap on the Old School Miniatures Facebook group. I decided to do something a bit above and beyond the usual for my recipient and paint a small unit of ogres for them. These were sculpted by Bob Olley and originally released by Ral Partha. They're still available, somewhat, by Iron Wind Metals and Ral Partha Europe. The ogre with the hook shaped cleaver seems to be MIA on these sites but might be available on Ebay.

These minis are quite simply some of the most fun I've ever painted. The character sculpted on the faces is amazing and lends itself to very minimal painting. The rest of the details are fully dimensional and clearly defined. Even the chainmail is wonderfully sculpted which makes it very easy to get a good painted result.

I had some questions about how I paint armor so here's the basic plan.

Sunday, November 19, 2017

"The madness and monstrosity lay in the figures in the foreground - for Pickman's morbid
art was pre-eminently one of daemoniac portraiture. These figures were seldom
completely human, but often approached humanity in varying degree. Most of the bodies,
while roughly bipedal, had a forward slumping, and a vaguely canine cast. The texture of
the majority was a kind of unpleasant rubberiness. Ugh! I can see them now! Their
occupations - well, don't ask me to be too precise. They were usually feeding - I won't say
on what. They were sometimes shown in groups in cemeteries or underground passages,
and often appeared to be in battle over their prey - or rather, their treasure-trove. And
what damnable expressiveness Pickman sometimes gave the sightless faces of this
charnel booty! Occasionally the things were shown leaping through open windows at
night, or squatting on the chests of sleepers, worrying at their throats. One canvas showed
a ring of them baying about a hanged witch on Gallows Hill, whose dead face held a
close kinship to theirs."

-Pickman's Model, H.P. Lovecraft

Trash Bash maestro and sculptor extraordinaire Diego Diz recently sent me a box that contained a ton of his Ars Minima miniatures as Trash Bash Contest prizes, but also a finely detailed resin-cast ghoul that he'd sculpted. It was a bit intimidating to paint since I tend to stay with chunky and or vintage minis, but once I got started I realized how perfectly captured the details were and that they made painting even easier.

BOY!!!

You! Drop that baby! Into my mouth!

Fog effects by Optimo Cigar.

The painting was done with several layers of washes and drybrushing. I tried to get a subtle, mottled color that is unfortunately lost in the final photos. I'm most happy with the face as painting the eyes, teeth, and gums really took a steady hand. It's nice to know that I can still handle such fine details. :)

I was struck by a memory of the story Pickman's Model and how it was discovered that Richard Upton Pickman was basing his horrifying ghoul paintings not on his imagination but from "live" models. Diego seems to have found his own horde of undead artist's models as this miniature has a physiognomy that is unsettlingly realistic. Even at this tiny scale the face is full of malice and hunger. It was a both creepy and fun to see its expression develop under the brush.

Unfortunately Diego is no longer sculpting miniatures due to other time commitments. But I'm truly grateful not only for this wonderfully terrifying gift but also for his continued friendship.

Sunday, November 12, 2017

I'm really loving these new OGRE Miniatures by Steve Jackson Games. Here's the command post model. It has a good amount of detail with smooth surfaces and sharp edges that take drybrushing really well. Cool stuff.